4 New TV Shows to Watch This November

November isn’t usually a particularly busy month for series premieres, but there are a few notable exceptions this season. Here are four new shows to watch in the upcoming month.

Olive Kitteridge (HBO), November 2

The network’s latest entry is based off Elizabeth Strout’s 2008 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel of the same name, which consists of 13 interconnected stories, all set in coastal Maine. The title character, a retired teacher, is the main character in some stories but only appears in others briefly. The four-hour, two-night miniseries features an all-star cast that features Frances McDormand, Richard Jenkins, and Bill Murray, and is directed by Oscar-nominated Lisa Cholodenko (The Kids Are All Right). Critics are already predicting that the show will be some of HBO’s best programming this year. The premiere will air at 9 p.m. Eastern.

The Game (BBC America), November 5

Created by Doctor Who’s Toby Whithouse, this six-part Cold War spy thriller miniseries is set in 1972 London, right as a deadly Soviet plot dubbed Operation Glass is set to deliver a fatal blow to Britain. The series stars Brian Cox as an MI5 leader who is forced to assemble a secret committee to thwart the plot and save the country after he learns of the secret war from a KGB defector. The show airs at 10 p.m. Eastern as part of BBC America’s “Dramaville” block.

The Missing (Starz), November 15

The eight-episode dramatic thriller follows the decades-long search for a 5-year-old boy named Oliver Hughes who disappears while on holiday in France. The limited series takes viewers inside the mind of Oliver’s desperate father, Tony (played by James Nesbitt), who sets out on an exhaustive quest to find his son, gaining help from a legendary detective (Tchéky Karyo) along the way. Soon, his obsessive search threatens to destroy his life and his relationship with wife, Emily. The narrative is told over two timeframes simultaneously. The premiere airs at 9 p.m. Eastern.

State of Affairs (NBC), November 17

Katherine Heigl makes her much-discussed return to television in this political drama, as CIA analyst Charleston Tucker. The show follows Charleston as she is tasked with assembling and presenting the biggest security issues facing the country in a daily briefing for President Constance Payton (Alfre Woodard). The job is made even more complicated by the fact that Payton was almost Charleston’s mother-in-law. Her son, Charleston’s former fiancé, was killed in a terrorist act that the agent is still working to get to the bottom of. The show airs at 10 p.m. Eastern.